Lessons from the 2020 US Elections

The mainstream media appears to have underestimated Donald Trump again. While Joe Biden has won the 2020 US Presidential race, Trump came closer than many expected. This problem isn’t limited to Trump, however. During the Democratic primaries, the media often understated the appeal of Biden, and overstated the support for candidates like Elizabeth Warren, who came a distant third.

To be fair, independent media didn’t do much better either. They too generally underestimated Trump in the general, and vastly overstated the support for Bernie Sanders (and to some extent Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg) in the primary.

I guess this is a timely reminder that the views reported in mainstream media may be biased by echo chamber effects, and not always reflective of reality on the ground. There’s also the problem of certain influential actors pushing their agendas and skewing the debate, and a conformist culture stifling real free speech and real free debate.